Collapsible portable electronic device with display

ABSTRACT

A collapsible keyboard and display mechanism for a computer system includes a collapsible keyboard having at least two independent keyboard sections and a first hinge device for enabling at least two of the keyboard sections to fold together in face to face relationship; and an independent display section disposed between the two keyboard sections in the collapsed condition.

This is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/515,383 filed Aug. 15, 1995, nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,256,017 continuation of Ser. No. 08/202,333 filed Feb.24, 1994 now abandoned. The applicant claims priority under USC 120 toboth earlier applications.

FIELD OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a collapsible keyboard and display mechanismfor a computer system, and more particularly to such a mechanism whichprotects and cushions even an exposed, unguarded display.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Portable computers offer many great advantages to the user. A singleportable computer can be used in place of several stationary computersin the home, office, and elsewhere. Data and computing power can easilybe transported on the road or to a remote site. The problem ofinconsistent data on remote unconnected computers can usually beavoided. The utility of these devices depends on the degree to whichthey are portable (their size and weight), on the degree with which theycan reproduce the ergonomics of a full-sized computer, and on theirdurability. Early “credit-card” calculators were not durable. They weretypically held in a wallet in the back pants pocket. The user sittingdown invariably bent the card sufficiently to break the fragile andbrittle display. Current laptop computers protect the fragile displaywith thick and heavy plastic “armor”. This adds weight and size andtherefore reduces portability. Current laptop computer design generallyrepresents a compromise between the size as measured by the “footprint”of the folded device and the ergonomics. They are designed around theergonomic constraint that the keyboard width should be roughly the widthof two human hands (about ten inches).

Numerous patents have been awarded for the introduction and refinementof the folding display and keyboard (Lai-Fa Hsieh, Great ElectronicsCorporation, U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,365; Takashi Hosoi, Toshiba, U.S. Pat.No. 5,052,078, etc.). A recent article in the January 1994 issue of PCLaptop provides a detailed and comprehensive review of 86 handheld,pen-based, notebook, and laptop computing devices. Essentially all ofthe devices which use a keyboard have the display fold into thekeyboard.

In these current designs, the footprint is constrained to be as large asthe larger of the two components. Moreover, the keyboard has an aspectratio of roughly two-to-one, whereas the standard displays have anaspect ratio close to unity; 640×480, 1280×1024 pixels are commonvalues. The result of this inconsistency is wasted footprint area.

Laptop makers have gone to great lengths to work around this constraint.One design compresses the aspect ratio of the pixels so that each pixelis rectangular rather than square. This allows standard displayresolutions to be displayed in elongated displays. However, theresultant images are distorted. Circular pie charts become elliptical.

An alternative design is incorporated into current subnotebooks andpersonal organizers. This design simply shrinks the keyboardsubstantially below the size that is ergonomically comfortable.Typically the overly packed keys must be curved in a convex manner toprevent inadvertent actuation of adjacent keys. These have beenderisively termed “chicklets keyboards” by reviewers.

Personal information managers solve the problem by declaring that thekeyboard is unnecessary and by promising useable voice and handwritingrecognition capability sometime in the future.

One attempt to solve some of these problems uses hinged keyboards. SeeU.S. Pat. Nos. 3,940,758; 4,395,704; 4,517,660; 4,939,514. But theseapproaches all suffer their own shortcomings: the hinges protrude andinterfere with the use of the keyboard; the display must be guarded andprotected so it is unduly large and is generally fixed to the keyboardor other structure and does not collapse.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism for a computer system.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism which protects the displaywithin the collapsed keyboard.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism which enables use of asmaller, lighter display using an exposed, unguarded display element.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism in which the keys act as acushioning element to further protect the display.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism which can employ aconventional alphanumeric keyboard.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism which the keyboard anddisplay have the same aspect ratio in the collapsed state so that thepackage is very efficient in its use of space.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism which the light weightdisplay is easily positioned for optimum viewing comfort.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such an improvedcollapsible keyboard and display mechanism in which a truly “shirtpocket” package can be obtained.

The invention results from the realization that a truly compact,efficient, “shirt pocket” computer can be achieved with a hingedkeyboard having two or more sections which fold together about anindependent display to protect the display and cushion it with the keysthemselves so the display can be little more than a bare display elementexposed and unguarded but for the protection afforded by the keyboard,and further that through the use of link hinges any interference of thehinges with the use of the keyboard can be virtually eliminated, andthat also through the use of link hinges a two section display and twosection keyboard can be made to compactly collapse by making coincidentthe axes of rotation of the display hinges and the keyboard hinges.

This invention features a collapsible keyboard and display mechanism fora computer system. There is a collapsible keyboard having at least twoindependent keyboard sections and first hinge means for enabling atleast two of the keyboard sections to fold together in face to facerelationship. An independent display section is disposed between the twokeyboard sections in the collapsed condition.

In a preferred embodiment the first hinge means may include a link hingemeans. The link hinge means may orient the two keyboard sections in aspaced relationship in the collapsed condition and the two keyboardsections may be substantially parallel in the collapsed condition. Thekeyboard sections may have their keys facing toward each other in thecollapsed face to face relationship. The display section may beinterconnected with the keyboard by second hinge means. The second hingemeans may have its axis transverse to the first hinge means. The secondhinge means may be on the back of the keyboard. The display section mayinclude an exposed display element. At least two of they keyboardsections include alphabet keys. The display section may beinterconnected with the keyboard by a mechanical linkage for adjustingthe position of the display section relative to the keyboard and theuser. The display section may include first and second display segmentsand third hinge means for collapsibly interconnecting the segments witheach other. The second hinge means may include a first hinge device forinterconnecting one of the display segments with one of the keyboardsections and a second hinge device for interconnecting the other of thedisplay segments with another of the keyboard sections. The axis ofrotation of the first hinge means and the third hinge means may coincidefor enabling the display segments to collapse in face to facerelationship and fold within the collapsed keyboard sections. At leastone of the keys on the keyboard may include a recess for accommodatingat least a portion of the first hinge means. The first, second and thirdhinge means may have mutually perpendicular axes.

DISCLOSURE OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled inthe art from the following description of a preferred embodiment and theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional diagrammatic view of a collapsiblekeyboard and display mechanism for a computer system according to thisinvention in the opened position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the collapsible keyboard anddisplay mechanism for a computer system of FIG. 1 in the collapsedcondition;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating a mechanical linkage foradjusting the position of the display section relative to the keyboardand the user;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 wherein the display section includestwo display segments;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the collapsible keyboard anddisplay mechanism for a computer system of FIG. 4 in the collapsedcondition;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the keyboard having fourkeyboard sections and the display section connected not mechanically butonly electrically to the keyboard;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the collapsible keyboard anddisplay mechanism for a computer system of FIG. 6 in the collapsedcondition; and

FIG. 8 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of a keyboard accordingto this invention showing a recess in a key for accommodating a portionof the hinge interconnecting the keyboard sections.

This invention may be accomplished in a collapsible keyboard and displaymechanism for a computer system. There is a collapsible keyboard of aconventional type, also known as a “QWERTY”, which includes a centralsection containing a contiguous array of the alphabetic keys and numericcharacter keys. The keyboard includes at least two keyboard sections anda hinge for enabling the two of them to fold together in face to facerelationship. There is an independent display section which is disposedbetween the two keyboard sections in the collapsed condition, Thisdisplay may be connected to the keyboard by a hinge or some othermechanism, or it may be mechanically separate although stillelectrically connected to the keyboard and the computer therein. In anycase, the display section is an independent section from the keyboardsections. Further, it is typically formed from an exposed or unguardeddisplay element which is structurally self-supporting. That is, inconventional laptop computers and other portable computers, the displayelement, being a fragile material, is housed and guarded in a strong,resilient protective housing to prevent harm to the display element.

According to this invention, the display element can be unguarded andexposed because it is stored in the collapsed condition between twokeyboard sections which form a similarly strong resilient and guardedprotective housing to protect the display element. Further, if thekeyboard sections are arranged so that the keys face each other in thecollapsed condition the resilience of the keys themselves act as acushion to further protect the display element and keep it from harm.

The two keyboard sections are connected together by some hinge means,preferably a link hinge such as a Soss hinge. A link hinge is a hingingmechanism which incorporates multiple links that move relative to thehinged components. Soss is the name of the inventor of the link hingefully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,484,093 in his name. Such hinges havean axis of rotation which is outside the hinge itself and permits partsto be swung about parallel and in juxtaposition in a well-known manner.The link hinge orients the keyboard sections so as to maintain asubstantially parallel spaced relationship between them in the collapsedcondition even when the display element is disposed between the keyboardsections. Typically, when the display is attached to the keyboard by ahinge, the axis of the display section hinge is transverse to the axesof the keyboard section hinge. In fact, they are ordinarilyperpendicular. Usually the display section is hinged or disposed at theback of the keyboard when the mechanism is opened or unfolded. Thedisplay section may be interconnected with the keyboard by a pivot arm,scissor, pantograph or other parallelogram type linkages or othermechanism to allow it to be repositioned for the convenience of the userto be moved about, raised and lowered, shifted left and right withrespect to the keyboard, and generally permit the user to place it inany convenient location for viewing.

The display section may include two display segments which are hinged toeach other as well as to the keyboard. The hinge which connects them toeach other would have an axis that (in the open condition) is mutuallyperpendicular with the hinges that connect the display segments to thekeyboard and the hinges that connect the keyboard sections to eachother, so that in the open condition the noncoincidence of the variousaxes make for a stable structure. However, when the two display sectionsare folded down against the keyboard sections the hinges interconnectthe display segments have their axis coincident with the axis of theSoss hinges that interconnect the keyboard sections so that the entireassembly can then be folded one more time to completely enfold thedisplay segments within the collapsed folded keyboard sections.

There is shown in FIG. 1 a collapsible keyboard and display mechanism 10for a computer system in accordance with this invention including akeyboard 12 and a display section 14. Keyboard 12 includes in thisembodiment only two keyboard sections 16 and 18 which contain theconventional QWERTY alphanumeric keyboard as universally used ontypewriters, computers and similar equipment. Keyboard sections 16 and18 are interconnected by a pair of link hinges 20 and 22 which havetheir axis of rotation 24 slightly above the top of keyboard sections 16and 18. Display section 14 consists of a simple display element 26without protective housing or shields such as a basic LCD device, and isinterconnected with keyboard 12 by means of a conventional hinge 28interconnected between element 26 and keyboard section 18. The axis ofrotation of hinge 28, 30 is perpendicular to axis of rotation 24 ofhinges 20 and 22. Keys 32 on keyboard 12 are conventional touch keyswhich have a measure of resilience springiness to provide tactilefeedback to the user in the normal way. In the collapsed condition,mechanism 10, FIG. 2, provides protection for display element 26 firstby means of the solid structural nature of keyboard sections 16 and 18,and second by the resilience of keys 32 which cushion sections 16 and 18against shocks, jolts, and bending of keyboard components 16 and 18.Display element 26 is essentially the same length and width andgenerally of the same area as each of keyboard sections 16 and 18. Thusthe footprint of all three sections is the same, making the packaging anefficient use of space which provides full benefit of size of both thedisplay element 26 and the keyboard sections 16 and 18. In all of theseembodiments, above and following, it will be appreciated that thebattery, CPU, I/O and memory and mass storage devices will be includedas usual in keyboard 12.

Throughout this description of the invention like parts have been givenlike numbers and similar parts have been given like numbers accompaniedby a prime designation or a lower case letter. Although display element26 in FIG. 1 is shown physically interconnected by means of hinge 28 tokeyboard 12, this is not a necessary limitation of the invention.Instead of pivot arm 28′, any other suitable mechanism may be used, forexample scissor 28″ or a pantograph or other parallelogram typestructure. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, display element 26 can beinterconnected by means of pivot arm 28′ which includes rod 40 with aball joint 42, 44 on either end so that display element 26 can be movedabout, raised and lowered, and shifted closer and farther away for theconvenience of the user.

In another construction, collapsible keyboard and display mechanism 10a, FIG. 4, may have a display section 14 consisting of two displaysegments 26 and 26 a interconnected by conventional hinges 50, 52 havinga rotational axis 54, and interconnected to keyboard 12 only by means ofhinge 28 or by hinge 28 and a second hinge 28 a.

In the open condition, as shown in FIG. 4, mechanism 10 a provides astable structure because the axes 24, 30 and 54 of hinges 20, 22; 28, 28a; and 50, 52 are mutually perpendicular. However, when display segments26 and 26 a are rotated downwardly against keys 32 on keyboard sections16 and 18 about axis 30 of hinges 28 and 28 a, the axes 54 of hinges 50and 52 coincide with the axis 24 of hinges 20 and 22. While axis 54 isat the center of the rotation pin of conventional hinges 50 and 52, therotational axis 24 of Soss hinge 20, 22 is spaced somewhat above hinges20 and 22, allowing for this coincidence. This enables the secondfolding to be facilitated so that the two display sections 26 and 26 aare safely enfolded within keyboard sections 16 and 18 as shown in FIG.5.

Keyboard 12 b, FIG. 6, includes four keyboard sections 60, 62, 64 and66. Sections 62 and 64 are hingeably interconnected by conventionalhinges, only one of which, 68, is visible. Sections 60 and 62, however,are interconnected by link hinges only one of which, 70, is shown.Sections 64 and 66 are also connected by link hinges, only one of which,72, is shown. Also in FIG. 6, display 14 b is shown without mechanicalinterconnection to keyboard 12 b. It is only interconnected by,detachable electrical cable 80 via display data communications port 82and connector 84. Mechanism 10 b, FIG. 6, is collapsed by first rotatingsections 60 and 66 inwardly toward each other as indicated by arrows 74and 76, respectively, and then swinging sections 62 and 64 along withsections 60 and 66, respectively, about hinge 68 in the directionindicated by arrows 78 and 80. This results in the arrangement as shownin FIG. 7, with electrical cable 80 and display section 14 b no longerattached to keyboard 12 b and stored elsewhere. The use of the linkhinge insures that the hinge arrangement will not interfere with the useof the keys and keyboard. This can be insured even further, andespecially so if conventional as opposed to link hinges are used, byhollowing out selected keys on the keyboard to provide a recess toaccommodate any protruding portions of the hinge. This is shown in FIG.8, where spacer bar 32 a which bridges keyboard sections 16 c and 18 ccontains a recess 90 which accommodates a portion of hinge 20 a.

Although specific features of this invention are shown in some drawingsand not others, this is for convenience only as each feature may becombined with any or all of the other features in accordance with theinvention.

Other embodiments will occur to those skilled in the art and are withinthe following claims:

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable electronic device adapted to be easilycollapsible for storage and protection, comprising: a) a portableelectronic processing device, said portable electronic processing devicecomprising a first housing section and a second housing section, b) adisplay comprising a first display section and a second display section,c) a first hinge connecting said first housing section to said secondhousing section and facilitating the folding of said first and secondhousing sections about a first axis, d) a second hinge connecting saidfirst housing section to said first display section, and facilitatingthe folding of said first housing section and said first display sectionabout a second axis, e) a third hinge connecting said first displaysection to said second display section, and facilitating the folding ofsaid first display section and said second display section about a thirdaxis.
 2. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein said firstand second housing sections are collapsible from a substantiallycoplanar relationship to a face-to-face relationship.
 3. The portableelectronic device of claim 1, wherein said first and second displaysections are collapsible from a substantially coplanar relationship to aface-to-face relationship.
 4. The portable electronic device of claim 1,wherein: a) said first and second housing sections are collapsible froma substantially coplanar relationship to a face-to-face relationship, b)said first and second display sections are collapsible from asubstantially coplanar relationship to a face-to-face relationship, c)said first and second display sections are sandwiched between said firstand second housing sections in a collapsed condition.
 5. The portableelectronic device of claim 1 wherein said first and second housingsections comprise one or more keys.
 6. The portable electronic device ofclaim 5, wherein said first and second housing sections in said opencondition comprise a keyboard.
 7. The portable electronic device ofclaim 1, wherein said first and second axes are at a fixed angle withrespect to each other.
 8. The portable electronic device of claim 7wherein said fixed angle is approximately 90 degrees.
 9. The portableelectronic device of claim 1, wherein said first hinge is a link hinge.10. The portable electronic device of claim 1, further comprising afourth hinge connecting said second housing section with said seconddisplay section.
 11. A portable electronic device adapted to be easilycollapsible for storage and protection, comprising: a) a portableelectronic processing device, said portable electronic processing devicecomprising a first housing section and a second housing section, and b)a display comprising a first display section and a second displaysection, wherein: i. said first and second housing sections arecollapsible from a substantially coplanar relationship to a face-to-facerelationship, ii. said first and second display sections are collapsiblefrom a substantially coplanar relationship to a face-to-facerelationship, and iii. said first and second display sections aresandwiched between said first and second housing sections in saidcollapsed condition.
 12. The portable electronic device of claim 11,wherein said first and second housing sections comprise one or morekeys.
 13. The portable electronic device of claim 11, wherein said firstand second housing sections in said open condition comprise a keyboard.